My idea for experimental service improvements

[adrock1976]

Have there ever been any plans documented to try out experimental services, for example increasing the Stockport - Stalybridge to every 2 hours?

Likewise extending the Leeds - Knottingley to Goole or Hull every 2 hours, or increasing the Sheffield - Cleethorpes via Brigg from Saturdays Only to daily (or extending the Retford terminators every 2 hours to Cleethorpes)?

After all, British Rail did try out some experimental services and experimental station reopenings in the second half of the 1980s. An experimental service with station reopenings local to my original neck of the woods was Walsall - Hendesford in 1989, subsequently extended to Rugeley Town, Stafford, and thanks to Virgin West Coast, was cut back to Rugeley Trent Valley. Of note, Walsall - Rugeley TV is presently being prepared for electrification.

 

[swt_passenger]

IIRC SWT's current services on the Yeovil Junction - Salisbury via Westbury route were described as 'experimental' in the franchise specification.

That suggests that DfT do currently use the concept.

 

[The Planner]

How is it the fault of Virgin? Blame DfT and the franchise spec.

 

[dk1]

All great having these ideas but who pays & why think these routes have any potential? Its the reason they ended up as they are. If there has been major increases in housing maybe but otherwise why bother? To blame Virgin for the massively successful WCML as it is now compared to a sparsely loaded dmu makes no sense whatsoever.

 

[Starmill]

When there is an all day half-hourly service from Birmingham to Rugeley Trent Valley (as there is on Saturdays and at peak times currently), the issue of connections to Stafford will disappear. However I would say that Rugeley Trent Valley is in urgent need of access improvements.

 

[Ianno87]

When there is an all day half-hourly service from Birmingham to Rugeley Trent Valley (as there is on Saturdays and at peak times currently), the issue of connections to Stafford will disappear. However I would say that Rugeley Trent Valley is in urgent need of access improvements.

There was a half hourly service for the few years after chopping back the service from Stafford in December 2008, with good connections at Rugeley. Not many used it, hence dropping back to hourly.

I do admit Rugeley TV isn't exactly an attractive interchange, even with a good connection time.

 

[tbtc]

Things were a bit different for BR, since there weren't ten year franchise commitments - that gave them a lot more flexibility - both flexibility to open/start things and to close/withdraw things. They didn't have to worry about having to keep things up for the duration of a franchise period.

One relatively recent example of an experimental service was the boost to Fishguard services, which IIRC was committed to for a couple of years, after which the funding would end?

There's been a few examples of Councils funding things like Sunday services for short durations, in the hope that they'll become successful enough to stand on their own two feet in the medium term.

(The idea of a bi-hourly service from Knottingley to Hull, however... maybe not)

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

There was a half hourly service for the few years after chopping back the service from Stafford in December 2008, with good connections at Rugeley. Not many used it, hence dropping back to hourly.

I do admit Rugeley TV isn't exactly an attractive interchange, even with a good connection time.

When the service was an hourly through service to Stafford with Sprinters, not many people used it either.